Airlines claim demand for Italy is booming

The UAE's two leading carriers - Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways - have expressed the need to up frequencies to key Italian cities to keep pace with demand.

Emirates Airline claims it is witnessing load factors of around 90% on its daily flights to Rome, Milan and Venice and has said demand would warrant double dailies to Rome and Milan if the Italian authorities would agree, while Etihad Airways,  which introduced a three times weekly service to Milan on September 2, said it hoped to increase this to daily next year, again, if the Italian government permitted.

"The issue is with civil aviation and protecting Alitalia," explained Etihad Airways' area manager for Italy, Giuliano Paolo Greco. "We hope this is resolved soon."

Load factors on the Milan service, he said, had already hit 70%.

Emirates Airline has freed up capacity with its daily Venice flight but is still forced to operate four of its daily Milan flights via Rome because of bi-laterals: "We hope to operate double dailies to Milan by next summer and to Rome possibly the following year," revealed Emirates Airline's area manager Italy, Iberian Peninsula and States of ex-Yugoslavia, Massimo Massini.

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